Iron Cross

"We have to do a better job, Colonel!" Kumetz turned sideways and faced Hintz and said: "If I guess correctly, this should be a 10,000-ton treaty cruiser. You can't get rid of it with speed!"

After discovering that the Scharnhorst was targeting its offensive firepower, the Newcastle finally stopped hiding and concentrated its firepower tit-for-tat - the Scharnhorst had an advantage in artillery power, while the Newcastle directed the fire due to its fire control radar. , with an accuracy advantage, another hit in the third salvo at a distance of 13,400 meters hit the tail turret. The 152mm shells could not break through the defensive armor of the Scharnhorst turret, but the power of the explosion was equally frightening. . At this time, the Scharnhorst had completed its turn and was parallel to the course of the Newcastle. After six salvos, a bomb finally hit the latter, completely blowing up its two secondary guns and two anti-aircraft guns.

At 1:13, the entire German North Sea Fleet completed a 170-degree turn to the right, took a due north course, and increased its speed to 31 knots. Scharnhorst was finally able to retreat while fighting, but another l52mm shell from Newcastle was fired. Scharnhorst hit the hull above the armored belt on the starboard side. Not only did it successfully blow up a secondary gun, but it also caused a fire on the seaplane hangar deck. The fire made the entire ship very obvious in the dark night. Although it was not It was extinguished by the sailors within a minute, but this was enough time for the British fleet to take a closer look.

After Kumetz learned that the aircraft carrier formation had successfully retreated, he ordered the Scharnhorst to retreat at maximum speed. The ship's bow slowly moved to the right and struggled to ride the huge waves. At this time, a 356mm shell hit the port side, causing steel fragments to fly all over the sky and making the bridge choke. Suddenly, another shell penetrated the bow of the ship and entered the crew cabin. However, it did not explode in the end and turned out to be a dumb bomb! Scharnhorst, which had completed its turn and was preparing to break away, could only fire back with its tail main gun. Facing the Newcastle 14,000 meters away, it still scored several hits, leaving the latter's starboard side in a mess.

Britain and the United States have a comparative advantage in the field of fire control radar, and their long-range shooting accuracy in the dark is much higher than that of their German counterparts. However, the level of the German fleet's optical rangefinders is unparalleled in the world, and it has an advantage in medium and short-range visual combat. Unfortunately, its strength The comparison gap was too big, and the Scharnhorst did not dare to fight - if there was only one Newcastle today, it would never be allowed to be so rampant.

Kumetz sent a telegram to Machar: "Exchanging fire with enemy battleships and cruisers. The enemy ships are equipped with artillery targeting radars, which are very accurate."

At the same time, the second officer reported that the main radar antenna was severely damaged and could not be repaired at sea. Kumetz complained even more, "We are really blind bats!"

Just when he finished speaking, a loud "bang" was heard from behind. Everyone in the commander's tower felt like they were being pushed hard. Many people were unsteady and threw themselves forward. Hinz turned his head and turned back. Looking at it, I gasped - the triple 283mm main gun at the end was penetrated by the 356mm shell and caused the ammunition to explode. The violent explosion after superimposing the power completely blew up the entire turret, and dozens of German officers and soldiers instantly Died violently.

He was so shocked that he could barely speak, and Kumetz yelled, "Fucking hell, get out of here!"

The chief of staff looked at the chart repeatedly, measured several distances with a two-foot compass, and reassured everyone: "The enemy can't catch us. If we keep this course for 20 minutes, we can successfully get rid of the enemy."

At 1:37, Newcastle's radar indicated that the opponent's warship was more than 40,000 meters away from its battleship, which was far greater than the shooting range, and its speed was 7-8 knots faster than its own. It could only give up in frustration, but within 5 minutes, The radar soldier shouted again, "Destroyers! Destroyers! A large number of destroyers are coming!"

Looking at the screen carefully, it makes people's scalp numb. There are so many bright spots on it. Although they are very small, they are extremely fast.

"The Germans cannot have so many destroyers. There must be something wrong with the radar."

"Sir..." the radar soldier almost cried, "They are all moving. It is unlikely to be a false alarm. Let the lookout post take a look."

"Okay! Okay! Flares! Flares!"

Since the enemy was far away, the three warships no longer cared about the bombardment of the German warships. In less than half a minute, they fired 18 rounds of flares. After checking the sea surface, the lookout posts on each ship screamed: "Destroyers! Torpedo boats!"

The destroyer was okay. When he heard the word "torpedo boat", Major General Lewis felt that his scalp was going to explode. If we were to choose the most terrifying enemy ship in the dark: submarines might be ranked first, torpedo boats probably second, and The two have one thing in common, they both use the most powerful weapon - torpedoes!

The secondary guns of each ship were fully activated, but this was obviously not enough to withstand the German destroyers and torpedo boats that were gathering from all directions and going all out. Although the tonnage of these warships is small, especially the S-boat, the 356mm main gun salvo can overturn the torpedo boat without hitting a target as long as it is within 50 meters, but there are too many of them. Now the whole W fleet finally experienced the horror of the destroyer Loyalty facing 50 torpedo boats in the cruise formation - they thought at first that the Germans were crazy.

More than 50 torpedo boats and destroyers braved dense artillery fire and charged forward bravely at speeds of 37 or even 43 knots. Although intensive enemy close-in defense fire continuously hit destroyers or torpedo boats, the other ships remained unmoved and still launched desperate attacks.

"Launch the torpedoes!" As the command was given, most of the torpedo boats and destroyers fired powerful G9 oxygen torpedoes at a distance of about 4,000 meters, and a few did not fire until they were about 3,500 meters. After firing the torpedoes, the surviving torpedo boats and destroyers turned north without looking at the results of the battle.

Now, this batch of torpedoes rushed over with a thunderous momentum at a speed of 52 knots.

"Searchlight! Searchlight!"

"Damn it, I can't see the torpedo track! What the hell is this thing!"

The British were still shouting about these obviously different torpedoes, and American officers had reacted first - these were probably the powerful, long-range, and unclear torpedoes used by the Japanese in the Battle of Savo Island. It seems that the Germans also got this secret weapon.

But this awakening came too late. In front of the dragnet of more than 100 torpedoes, there was no good choice at all. The Newcastle, which was at the forefront, dodged five torpedoes, but was still hit by the sixth. Before the officers and soldiers on the ship could recover from the violent shock, the seventh torpedo hit the warship hard. In the violent explosion, the light cruiser of less than 10,000 tons finally couldn't stand it and began to sink.

What's even more terrifying is that these torpedoes that the Newcastle dodged continued to rush towards the British fleet behind with the same momentum and speed - their range is as high as 20,000 meters.